MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — When county officials decided to name their new Harrisburg community center after longtime public official, the late Collins P. Lee, they forever connected the building with a name synonymous with service to one’s community.

Throughout Lee’s career as an educator and politician he was known by all accounts for a steadfast faith in his beliefs and a determined dedication to helping his community. Although Lee himself is no longer here, the late public servant might be gladdened to know that the spirit of giving he championed throughout his career has directly benefitted the building that bears his name.

When Bryce Raburn began thinking about what he wanted for his 16th birthday last month, the Georgia Military College Prep 10^th-grader knew he didn’t want to do just anything. For the past few years, Northridge Christian Church, where Raburn plays in the youth praise band and where both of his parents are pastors, had been making regular trips to the Harrisburg community center bearing Lee’s name, partnering with the center to improve the building and amenities of the more than 60-year-old former school.

After Bryce and his parents, Amy and Clint, began visiting the Lee Center during its joint community gatherings with the church (and even performing with his fellow praise band members), the drummer, pianist and singer began thinking about what he could do to further help the community center.

“A lot of times when you’re playing music, you can hear a melody that’s just a background thought, until you actually play it and you’re like ‘Whoa’,” said Raburn. “It was kind of like that until about November — my mom had been talking about [the center] a lot and had come home telling my family about it. I started thinking it would be cool if I could contribute to that some type of way, so I started praying, just asking God to guide me where to go and to steer me in the right direction in what to give and how to give it.”

Although Raburn knew that he wanted to help the Collins P. Lee Center, he didn’t know how to make a difference all on his own. When he heard about a $45,000 grant from Habitat for Humanity to help renovate and equip the center, together with a challenge to the community to raise $5,000 more, he saw a perfect opportunity to help the center that he cared about.

“I kept turning it around in my heart over and over again, and I just kept praying about [the center] and kept thinking,” said Raburn. “At the end of December I told [my mother] that instead of receiving gifts, I wanted to just take up donations and give them to the Collins P. Lee Center, because I think that’s what God called me to do for my 16th birthday.”

“We made an invitation saying that Bryce had asked that instead of money or gifts going to him for his birthday, he asks you to donate money toward the Collins P. Lee Center,” said mom, Amy Raburn, Northridge’s mobilization pastor. “At the party, we just had a picture of the center, and some people from church had already gone to our workdays there, but some family members [had yet to go there]. We had people put their donations into envelopes that we gave to the church, and the church wrote a check to Habitat.”

In forfeiting the spoils of a normal “Sweet 16”, Raburn raised funds for the

center more fulfilling than any gift. After the party, Amy Raburn presented a check for $648 to aid in renovations for the Lee Center; together with the $45,000 from Habitat and a recent pledge by GMC to donate 32 computers, the Collins P. Lee Center is expected to undergo a dramatic overhaul this year. In putting others before himself on a birthday that most other teens see as a milestone, Raburn saw the act of giving to others as a gift unto itself.

“I think it’s the community that makes you want to do things, because you see how joined and how happy we can be,” said Raburn. “Just seeing that we can all bless each other, no matter if it’s through singing to each other, smiling and saying ‘Hey, how’s it going?’, or even giving to the community, I’d say that’s a big reason for it.”